Just days after announcing his move to the Google payroll, Ben Goodger has updated the Mozilla Firefox roadmap. As we reported earlier this month, the stability-focused Fx 1.1 ("Deer Park") release was tentatively set for March. Citing a large number of patches and bug-fixes yet to be tested, Mozilla has moved the release date of Firefox 1.1 back till at least June.
In addition to moving the release date back, Mozilla intends to put out a "Developers Release" and a "Preview Release" of Fx 1.1. (An "Alpha" and a "Beta" of the final product) These interim builds will provide Mozilla with some valuable last-minute feedback; somewhat similar to the public Firefox builds leading up to Fx 1.0 last November. Goodger also tried to dismiss some theories concerning his move to Google and the Fx 1.1 timeline change:
"The slippage from March is not due to my move to Google, it is due to us needing to ensure the 1.1 release is of identical quality and scope as the 1.0 release - that means a period of testing, the localization system needs to be brought back online, etc. These things are done by more people than just myself, so quit with the wacky speculation."
Mozilla has also updated their code snapshot; emphasizing that Firefox 1.1, 1.5 and 2.0 will be released off the trunk, and not off an independent code development branch:
"To correct a common misconception: Firefox 1.1 and onwards is developed off the same trunk codebase as other Gecko based apps such as Mozilla 1.8, Camino etc. Residual changes from the long lived Aviary development branch have been merged back into the main line development trunk and all future releases will happen off of that. While we will branch for stability for future releases, we will try to avoid future development branches."
Although we will have to wait longer for Fx 1.1, Mozilla still intends to put Fx 1.5 and "Firefox 2" out the door before the start of 2006.